Last Saturday was a busy but VERY productive day! It all started with a headshot session with actress Misty Mills at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

The session lasted about 1 hour & it moved by quickly! The great thing about the DIA is that it has tons of windows & skylights, so the available light was nothing less than perfect. There are also great architectural backdrops that can be used without blocking any public space, which is just AWESOME.

Above is one of my favorite shots from the session! Here is another outtake from Misty’s shoot that really shows her personality, vibrancy & beautiful eyes.

Misty is actually the 2nd person who I have done headshots for & I think I’m a lot better than before. Hopefully, I can attract more of this type work to get even better.

Practice makes perfect. Right?

Misty had this to say once she got her photos back Monday Morning.

“I hate having my picture taken, but Tafari made it a comfortable, relaxed and fun experience! As an actress, it’s important I have a headshot that I can bank my career on and Tafari has a way of capturing not just your features, but your personality as well. He lets the real you shine through in your photographs and shows off what makes you unique.

As a graphic artist, I always end up worrying about the format of a picture and how it might look in the end, which makes me come off as stiff and worried, but with Tafari I never have to worry. I know that I’ll be pleased with the result every time he clicks the button on his camera.” Misty Mills

After my session with Misty, I met with event designer/wedding planner Melinda Anderson aKa MeMe of MeMe Designs to discuss this hot new project that you will hear more about in the coming weeks. And it’s going to big!

I’m so looking forward to what’s coming up!

Last night I was 1 of 5 featured photographers at the EXPOSURE.Detroit Photography Exhibit Opening & it was AWESOME!!!

The show lasted 3 hours & there was no one point when the room was not packed with fans, friends, admirers, photographers etc. I mean PACKED! Being that this was my first gallery styled show, I had no idea what to expect but I planned as much as I could. Luckily Suite Suzy was there to help keep me grounded because it was kinda crazy. Crazy but cool.

I was also happy that many of my friends made it out to the show to check out my work for the first time. I talk about my art loosely all the time but many have not seen it. It was nice getting their feedback & seeing the amazement on their faces as they viewed my work.

I displayed 9 of my favorite abstract macro pieces & they went over very well. Over the course of the evening, many commented on how sensual, colorful & unique my subject matter. I found it interesting though that so many talked about the sensuality of my presentation. One attendee stated that my piece “Wonderful Red Cliché” appeared to be two vaginas and this was before she purchased it. How awesome is that!?!

During the show, I was also able to connect with other photographers who inquired about my creative process, techniques that I use & I even gave some camera advice to some new photographers. That was pretty cool because I’m never really in a situation where I get t explain my work to others who know what I’m talking about.

After the event was over, Suite Suzy & I enjoyed a wonderful meal, then joined friends for drinks & laughs. Many of the laughs centered on some pretty unsavory topics. YES!!! I love unsavory topics.

The night was magical for many reason & I’m still on cloud nine from the love that I received from so many people.

One a funny note:
- I posted that I was wearing a beret to the opening on FB. When many of my friends showed up, they asked where my beret was. I had to explain that I couldn’t find neither my black or raspberry beret.

- Every time I gave someone a hug last night, they told me that my hair smelled of cloves. Everyone! Funny thing is that I didn’t have anything oils or other products in my hair. I’m still trying to figure out where the fragrance came from.

If you live in the Detroit area, you can see the photography exhibit through May 2010 at the Bean & Leaf Café located in Royal Oak, MI.

With the EXPOSURE.Detroit Photography Exhibit Opening, I need to restock my promo cards! The timing is perfect because overnightprints.com has a half off sale on post cards. SCORE!!!

Today I heard from a client who saw an image of her on a MSN website advertising single ladies “in your area.”

She sent me a screen shot of the page & I totally flipped out! She signed a model release for me so that I could submit it to Getty images Flickr Collection a few months ago but it had not sold. So knowing that it hadn’t sold, I KNEW it was being used without my authorization. With that in mind, I went storming around the internet for answers.

I left messages on the MSN support site, left a message, started a discussion thread with Bing via FB, & later posted something to the Flickr Getty Images contributor forum.

As you can imagine, I was quite upset. Like really upset.

To my relief, by the end of the day, I was contacted by the Bing Facebook team, letting me know that they were investigating the situation on my behalf. About an hour after that, I received a call from one of Microsoft’s managing photo editors who explained that the image in question was indeed used lawfully & that it was recently purchased from Getty Images via the Flickr Collection.

“Hi Tafari

I’m a Managing Photo Editor at Microsoft and your mail and link to: http://www.twitpic.com/vls82 was forwarded to me.. This is an image we acquired from Getty (see the info below with your credit) and is in the cue for payment. We take licensing very seriously and go to great lengths to make certain our images are licensed correctly…”

Funny thing is, somewhere along the way & during my hastiness, I forgot that the image was indeed available via Getty.

Had I paid better attention, I would have contacted Getty images & let them do the investigating for me. Sigh! These days, one can never be careful with protecting your creative properties

So since all of the drama was laid to reset, I made amends with Microsoft for my hasty reaction. With quick reactions, a couple of tweets, a FB post & no research, all kinds of hell can break loose.

Oh, by the way, my client thought that this was comical & right now, she single & still very much sexy.

See my original image here.

I found the article below on one of my new favorite blogs, “Creative Silence” by way of Professional Photographers of America.

The article is so on point & spells out everything that I sometimes have to detail to SOME clients.

Whenever I have to go there over my rates, it’s a bad sign.
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Why are Professional Photographers so expensive?
Shawn, Pamela and Gavin Richter
Professional Photographers of America December 2009

In this digital age where everyone has cameras, scanners, and home “photo printers,” we hear this all the time: How do professional (or personal) photographers charge $X for an 8×10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drugstore? Simply put, the customer is not just paying for the actual photograph; they’re paying for time and expertise.

The average one-hour portrait session

First, let’s look at the actual work involved:

• Travel to the session
• Setup, preparation, talking to the client, etc.
• Shoot the photos
• Travel from the session
• Load images onto a computer
• Back up the files on an external drive
• 2 – 4 hours of Adobe® Photoshop® time, including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, and backing up edited photographs. Proof photos are also ordered.
• 2 – 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment, and ship.
• Possibly meet clients at the studio to review photos and place order. Meeting and travel time average 2 hours.

You can see how a one-hour session easily turns into an eight-hour day or more from start to finish. So when you see a personal photographer charging a $200 session fee for a one-hour photo shoot, the client is NOT paying them $200 per hour.

The eight-hour wedding
A wedding photographer typically meets with the bride and groom several times before and after the wedding. And it’s not uncommon to end up with 1,000 – 2,000 photos, much more than a portrait session. Many photographers spend 40-60 hours working on one eight-hour wedding if you look at the time that is truly involved. Again, when a wedding photographer charges $4,000 for eight hours of coverage, clients are NOT paying them $500 an hour!

(Don’t forget that the photographer runs the wedding day to some extent. A comfortable, confident wedding photographer can make a wedding day go more smoothly.)

The expertise and cost of doing business
Shooting professional photography is a skill acquired through years of experience. Even though a DSLR now costs under $1,000, taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.

Most personal photographers take years to go from buying their first camera to making money with photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera, there is a mountain of other equipment and software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website, etc. And don’t forget backdrops, props, rent, utilities, insurance, etc!

In addition to the financial investment, photographers actually have to have people skills to make subjects comfortable in front of the camera. Posing people to look their best is a skill by itself. You could argue that posing is a more important skill than actually knowing how to use the camera. A poorly exposed photo can be saved, but a badly posed photo cannot.

The chain store photo studio
Chain stores do have their place. For a very cheap price you can run in, shoot some quick photos, and be done with it. But you get what you pay for.

Consider the time and effort that a personal photographer puts into photographs, compared to a chain store. Store sessions last just a few minutes, while a personal photographer takes the time to get to know the people, makes them comfortable, makes them laugh. If a baby is crying at a chain store, they often don’t have the time (or the patience) to wait because everyone is in a hurry.

The truth is that many chain store studios lose money. In fact, Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios in 2007 because of the financial drain. What the chain stores bank on is a client coming in for quick, cheap photos…and while there, spending $200 on other items. They are there to get you in the door.

The real deal
Professional, personal photographers are just that—professionals. No different than a mechanic, dentist, doctor, or electrician. But a personal photographer often becomes a friend, someone who documents a family for generations with professional, personal photographs of cherished memories.

Maybe we need to help clients look at it this way: A pair of scissors costs $1.50 at the drugstore. Still, most people will gladly pay a lot more to hire a professional hair dresser to cut their hair.

The added attention and quality that a personal photographer gives is worth every penny.

Conclusion
We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs, created by a Personal Photographer are so expensive.

The Dapper D – Meet Tafari Stevenson-Howard
Indigo Zuri for Detroit Men’s Style Examiner

A photographer is a photographer, even in front of his lens; especially in the case of this week’s Dapper D. When first spotted, our subject stood outside the Beverly Hills Grill restaurant awaiting a table. His head to toe look likened that of an intriguing photograph, with places for one’s eyes to wander and investigate, and spaces for them to rest and relax. He wore Afrocentric apparel skillfully mixed with classic tailoring, while placing a huge emphasis on a brilliant show of color reminiscent of the emerging fall foliage. The late September breeze caused his locs to dance elegantly away from his face, and I, your Detroit Men’s Examiner, was intrigued.

Meet Tafari Stevenson-Howard - Devoted husband, loving dad of three, gifted photographer and a definite man of style.

Describe your style. I define my style as eclectic Afro urban chic. I love pulling in hand made West African clothing and accessories or Afro inspired pieces and combining them with basic western pieces.

Who are your favorite designers? Haan, Cole, Kors, Old Navy. (Don’t laugh because they have the best jeans!) Then I have a whole host of everyday designers/artists that I love like Heather Fagan of Bettula, knit artist Yokoo, and Senegalese designer Aziz.

Who/what is/are your style influencers? My style is inspired by comfort! I’m a thick brother so I need to be comfortable! So that means that you will not see me buy into the tight shirt and skinny jeans/pants look.

What style rules do you break? I think I break color rules for men. By that I mean, I love LOUD colors, pinks, yellows, greens. Many of my friends say that I make courageous color choices especially when it comes to shirts & shoes. Perhaps that’s the Detroit in me. I love pushing the envelope but you will never catch me in a pair of pink gators.

What style rule(s) will you not break? Wearing white (pants, jackets, shoes) between Labor day & Memorial day. I don’t care what designers say. Fashion has not changed! Not only that, white looks totally silly when you’re trying to look hot during one of our Michigan winters.

What are you wearing today? Today I’m wearing a tie-dyed and embroidered dashiki from Ghana, gabardine slacks, of course argyle socks (my favorite type of sock) and a birch bark wrist cuff.

(Post Source: www.examiner.com)

Two Words: Bling Bling

And yes, I’m still on the grind to meet my wedding job quota for 2010.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I did a photo shoot for Word Play T’s featuring singer Monica Blaire. If you saw the video previously posted, you know that it looked fun, colorful & fashionably Detroit; all of which are true.

Working with Word Play T’s owner/designed Jasmin DeForrest has been a blast & her projects have helped me push myself in different way to get great photographic results. The last 2 shoots have been just awesome.

Anyway, I would love to share with you some of my favorite shots from the Word Play shoot; have a look here. Please leave any feedback, would love to hear your thoughts.

Pictured above is soulful house singer Diviniti. She’s no joke! Great personality, voice & she knows how to get her photo taken!
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So last Sunday, I did my last shoot for the month with the Women on Wax Crew in a studio that should probably be mine. Anyway, the shoot was for an upcoming project with the group which includes DJ Minx, Piranahead, & Diviniti.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I invested in some studio lighting equipment & the timing of my purchase & this shoot was perfect. I ordered my equipment last Tuesday & luckily it was scheduled to arrive Friday. Luckily, I did not have to do 2 day air shipping because it was almost 100 extra bucks. Charge to my poor planning but I won.

Just in case you’re interested in what I purchased, here’s a breakdown of my Alien Bees gear:

• 3 Alien Bee 800 Strobe lights
• 1 47” Foldable octobox
• 1 22″ Beauty dish w/ diffusion sock
• 2 13’ light stands
• 1 Boom arm
• 4 Honeycomb light modifiers

If you’re saying that’s a lot of stuff; you’re absolutely right. If you’re saying that’s not shit; don’t make me cuss your ass out. I worked hard to pay for this shit! I actually need a few other items but they were not essential now + I’m broke as fuck.

Anyway, the theme for this shoot was pretty simple but I think I added a lot of drama by playing with my lighting. Check out my set up here: http://twitpic.com/f0vpo

The job lasted 2 hours on the nose & that was totally cool! Just know that for those 2 short hours, I worked my ass off. I was sweating like I was picking cotton in central Mississippi

Up next:

- Cousin Dee’s wedding, which is next Saturday. This wedding is going to be a monster. The guest list is at 320 & it may grow. I guess she’s rich.

- Then I have 2 events in October. Those funds will be used for my trip to DC. Can’t wait to be back in my other home away from home.

- I’m waiting to see if I have the winning bid on a wedding scheduled for 2010. This would be my 1st booking!!! My fingers are so fucking crossed!

- Wait, got a call to do a fashion shoot Saturday. Uh oh!!!

I need some more gigs, so hire me bitches!!!

Oh, BTW, check out a few shots from the shoot here.

Last weekend, I embarked on my 1st destination wedding in Cancun, MX at Dreams Resort.

My expectations were somewhat mixed because I did not know how things were going to finally work out, so I over packed everything.

Fortunately, Suite Suzy & I got to chill on the beach for 3 days before the jump off. And when I say jump off, I mean jump off.

The wedding was really something to beautiful to behold & watching it all come together was quite amazing.

I’ll tell you, anyone who thinks the work of a wedding photographer is a breeze is a fucking liar! I worked non-stop from 3pm-11pm in the heat, rain & sand.

After all was aid & done, I laid in the bed listening to the ocean crash against the rocks outside my window & thought about what I learned.

The next time around, which is in 2 weeks, I’ll be ready, with more comfortable shoes & pants. A photographer should not try to be sexy while working. It just doesn’t help the process.

Speaking of weddings, I’ve set a goal to try for 5 weddings for 2010. When I posted my goal on Facebook, many of my supporters & friends rallied & told me that my goal was too low. The encouraging words really helped to boost my confidence! With that said, I have my 1st consultation for 2010 next Tuesday. Wish me luck!!!!

Before I bounce, check out a quick snippet from Mr. & Mrs. Reginald Butler’s wedding here.

Oh BTW; check out the newest page on my website devoted to wedding photography & tell a friend! I have a passport so the world has no limit on distance I will travel. Shit, Tafari needs some new stuff boo!